Georgia’s social service agency is dumping much of its call-in system for food stamps and Medicaid, which has been plagued with long wait times and dropped calls, officials said.
The state Division of Family and Children Services will be switching to a new system over the next year that allows people to call in to the centralized line for some services but also to call or visit county DFCS offices for others.
The centralized call-in system, which came fully online in 2013 after an 18 month phase-in, has been a frustrating failure. Callers can be on hold for hours and thousands of calls go unanswered every month. That is more than a mere annoyance: If people cannot get through to report changes in their cases, their benefits may be cancelled.
Last year, the state attempted a multimillion-dollar fix to the system, expanding the potential volume of calls it could handle. But that simply opened a flood gate of additional calls, which the state did not have adequate staff to handle.
The average wait time to get through stands at 41 minutes, with some people waiting longer than four hours on the phone, said DFCS spokeswoman Ashley Fielding. Consequently people either hang up or are cut off in upwards of 70 percent of the calls, she said.
“Our hold times are not acceptable,” she said.
DFCS Director Bobby Cagle wants to largely move back to the former system in which many calls were handled by caseworkers at county DFCS offices. Under the new system, people will call or visit the county office for their initial interview and renewal of benefits. They will use the call in center to report changes in their case, such as an increase in income or rent.
One caseworker will largely be responsible for one case, rather than the current system that works like an assembly line. Officials believe the new system, which will begin phasing in within three months, will increase access and accountability.
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